That’s PJ and amore

While a neighbouring country – my Slovenia – celebrates 27th birthday today, here is a band that has survived that awkward age. The poem is for June edition of the A and I Poetry Challenge, and the concert is tomorrow.

First their poem, my favourite:

Up here in my tree
Newspapers matter not to me
No more crowbars to my head
I’m trading stories with the leaves instead

Now two of mine: a 5-line one and a longer one with concrete nouns:

An anticipated event is in danger.
It may be my tenth,
it may be just a little break
in the sobriety of our routine,
but it hurts to think it might not be at all.

---

The Tuesday when I shall discover
what it means to hold a VIP ticket
to a show of my favourite band
is coming up.
My tenth. That’s Amore.

We’ve had the tickets since December.
He stopped the car on our way to Slovenia
to buy them online
as soon as they were up.
A little thing for some, huge for me.

The first scare is the news about a Rome stadium.
What’s wrong? Don’t tell me they will move the show!
No, just a bribery scandal about an unbuilt stadium.
Nothing new or special for Italy.
We’re still a go.

Then, with just a week to go,
the terrible non-fake news:
“Eddie has completely lost his voice.”
The second London show is cancelled.
The three in Italy, Rome as last, are in question.

I have a look at some of the footage
from the night before.
He is struggling.
It’s heart-breaking.
He lets the audience sing, instead.

There are some funny tweets:
“Let Stone sing.” (He is the guitarist.)
“Hire me. At least I know all the lyrics.”
Some are upset. You’d be too if you came from the Philippines
only to have your dream cancelled.

But suddenly Tuesday is tomorrow,
his voice survived two Italians shows,
the shirt is ready,
uncle will dog-sit bestia,
and no obstacle remains for my little big thing.

The photos are from the last similar occasion four years ago when the concert was in Trieste: the tickets in danger of bestia, one from the day before the show, one from the day of the show, and the setlist that will be hard to top. Here you can find the list of all my previous PJ concerts.

Photo: BM

Photo: BM